Dronesport: Drones in Sports and Drones for Sports

We’ve talked about Drones in news media. We’ve talked about Drones being used commercially. We’ve talked about Drones used for aerial photography. The future is here and drones are now around us, being used conventionally by a lot of people. It is important, however, to note that the industry that has been able to best utilize drones is the Sports industry. Not only can drones be used for applications like coverage and tactical analysis in sports, there are also sports involving drones that are coming to the fore. Thus, drones cater all kinds of needs in Sports.

A Bird’s Eye View shot of a Football Stadium taken by a Drone

A lot of sports channels like Fox Sports, Sky Sports and ESPN are using drones extensively to cover competitive matches and provide a much better experience for people who view them from a television sets at home or at public places. Drones provide an consistently moving aerial view of the game that is being played in a manner that captures almost all of the important actions. Be it the moment a crucial goal is scored during a football match or the moment the ball enters the basket in a basketball match; be it the moment an F1 car crosses the finish line or the moment an Olympic diver hits the water, Drones can capture all of them with relative ease and clarity and it becomes very easy to distinguish between a moment of sheer joy and triumph or a moment of anxiety and disappointment.

That’s not all though, as drones are used by teams, coaches and the media to analyze a game and the manner in which different sports personalities play them. Drones can mean all the difference between a victory and a defeat for a coach that is using them to analyze his team’s next opponent. They are also used in collecting data and recording statistics in sports leagues that are played throughout the year.

A Drone Racing League Event About to Start

So it’s established that drones are extremely useful in the world of sports and are being used extensively by people in the industry. However, it doesn’t just end at that. Drones have had a far larger impact on sports than you can imagine. So much that there is a rise in the field of competitive drone-based sports. That’s right. Drone based sports are a thing. There are races, battles, obstacle course challenges and all of the sort when it comes to competitive drone flying. If you’re interested in flying drones and making a living out of it, there’s a lot more to it than just the ability to control one for conventional purposes. You can participate in drone races that take place around the world. For example, The Drone Racing League, based in the United States aspires to be the Formula One of Drone Racing and is in the midst of its first season. The best drone fliers from around the world are participating in this event in the hopes of clinching the grand prize and are also getting recognized for their flying skills. The event has been getting richer and richer ever since ESPN has started airing the competition and the total prize pool of the competition is a whopping $1 Million! For many investors, it is the similarity between Drone Racing and eSports that makes it an attractive investment. eSports, like Drone Racing has been on the rise ever since Valve started organizing its annual The International Dota 2 competition in which the best Dota 2 teams from around the world participate for a prize pool which has now crossed $20 million in its sixth and latest iteration. It can be assumed that The Drone Racing League will soon be on the same level as other eSports.

A Drone Battle Arena at a Competition

So, from all this, we can expect a LOT of involvement by drones in the world of sports and even more innovations as time passes by! Stay tuned for more cool stuff about Drones as we keep exploring their rise to prominence in the modern world!